In recent years, I've noticed lots of tumult regarding who should play which superhero in which films, who ought direct, who ought to write it, et cetera, et cetera. The most recent of such hullabaloo was the casting of Ben Affleck to play Batman in the next Man of Steel movie. I've seen all of this and I've come to a conclusion: It's not the actors or films that really matter, for the future of superheroes is in serialization, not a mere film series.
Which brings me to another conclusion:
Batman is too big for film, and television programming has finally caught up to the production values to serialize the Caped Crusader.
That's right. Once upon a time, we all thought it was a bit bizarre to see big-name actors moving to TV--like when Keifer Sutherland signed on to do 24, or when Laurence Fishburne joined CSI. Everyone thought it was a sign of an actor's career coming to an end. But, as it turned out, they knew something we didn't. Good writing was starting to happen in television. Like, really, really good writing. Whereas once actors worked through TV with the hopes of moving into film (George Clooney-ish), it seems they now all want a show of their own, and for good reason.
Kevin Spacey on Netflix's House of Cards. John Lithgow and Jimmy Smitz on Dexter. Sean Bean on Game of Thrones. And, of course, actors like Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm using TV to vault to stardom. All of these show clear signs of actors looking for steady work on shows that aren't embarrassing to their careers.
This is because TV production values are climbing, and they are now DAMN good. Better than they've ever been. Conan O'Brien has said we are in a "Golden Age of Television." It truly started with The Sopranos, when TV started to depart from the "villain of the week" type of episodes and moved into sagas, where the episodes must be played in order or else the continuity doesn't make any sense: Entourage, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, the list goes on and on. (See my October 2012 article on "How Television and Storytelling Are Changing" to see how this evolution started, and is still continuing).
What does this have to do with Batman? Well, not only is Batman one of the more realistic of superheroes, having no superpowers and all, which means CGI wouldn't be necessary almost ever, but he also has one of the largest continuous, well-done, epic sagas in modern literature. Period. His origin is iconic, his storylines are intense and often mythical, and his "rogues gallery" is phenomenal. In fact, it is bar none the best: the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, Catwoman, Bane, Ra's al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Deadshot...
I mean, Jesus, can you imagine approaching Batman as a TV series where the investigations are CSI-style, while also showing his complex relationships with Alfred, Lucius Fox, Commissioner Gordon, and, of course, his many enemies? Think of the scenes, and the drama! Bruce Wayne attending Policeman's Balls, meeting Gordon, having dinner with him and his family. In the comics, Gordon himself has had an affair with an officer named Sarah Essen, imagine how that would effect his and Batman's operations if we saw that in TV series form. I imagine Harvey Dent would be pretty upset, seeing as how that could upset their convictions in the courtroom.
And the villains themselves?
Here's just a scenario, to give you an idea how this could work: You introduce a serial killer in the very first episode, his name mentioned in the news as "The Riddle Killer," then it gets shortened to "The Riddler," because he leaves clues with his victims. Batman is just getting started in his crimefighting, roughing up the wealthy new guy in town, Oswald "the Penguin" Cobblepot, who owns a swank nightclub called the Iceberg Lounge. Cobblepot is an information broker, and at first helps Batman by feeding him underground info--he's like a police informant, only for the Batman. Meanwhile, Batman is on the hunt for this serial killer, the Riddler, determining that the clues he leaves behind aren't just random, they have meaning.
The entire first season is spent tracking the Riddle Killer, while also working on infiltrating and bugging the Maroni crime family, with the help of the Penguin, of course. By the end of the first season, the Riddler is captured, put into Blackgate Penitentiary or Arkham Asylum, and the Batman's first major catch splashes across the newspapers: BATMAN: FRIEND OR FOE? During his initial psych evaluation, the Riddler meets his prison counselor...Professor Hugo Strange!
In the second season, Batman could be tracking an expert thief that only the Penguin has ever met, the mysterious "Cat Burglar Woman," which gets shortened in the papers to "Catwoman." In prison, the Riddler has found a kindred spirit in fellow intellectual Professor Strange, who shares his hatred for the unintelligent.
To add more problems, Bruce Wayne is targeted by a man wanting revenge because Wayne Enterprises' pharmaceutical faction held back funding for research into a rare disorder, and since he did, the Centers for Disease Control does not allow for human testing of a special drug. The result is that Dr. Victor Fries's wife dies, due to what he feels was a lack of research into her disease. Dr. Fries (Mr. Freeze) is out to kill Wayne, Lucius Fox, and everyone else at Wayne Enterprises.
The second season ends with Batman catching up to both Catwoman and Mr. Freeze, and just when the sensationalism is dying down in the press...BOOM! City Hall is completely destroyed by Semtex, in an unprecedented terrorist attack. Witnesses only saw a single, painted-faced individual leaving the scene. One cell phone caught a blurry image of the terrorist. A man in clown makeup: The Joker has arrived! Batman has tracked down thieves, a serial killer, mob bosses and now a revenge-seeking Freeze, but he's never had to contend with a monster like this Clown Prince of Crime.
Season three opens with the government instigating martial law in Gotham City, since the Joker has been on a rampage, and the feds are now fearing a string of homegrown terrorists. He's even got a few fans, especially one obsessed, lovestruck girl who runs a Joker fan site: Her name is Harleen Quinzel, but on Internet forums she calls herself "Harley Quinn" She has a Facebook page devoted to the Joker. She's like those girls who send love letters to Charles Manson in prison--she sees herself falling for her soul mate.
On and on the story goes. This kind of "long game" storytelling is what Batman is known for in comics, and is simply NOT POSSIBLE in film.
Join me in demanding an intense, dramatic, high-production value Batman TV show from DC and Warner Brothers. Put it on AMC, Showtime or HBO, and watch the ratings skyrocket. It's a sure bet, and the Caped Crusader deserves to be done such justice.
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Twitter: @ChadRyanHuskins
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